..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 30 November 2005
Press Release No: G/29/2005

Countries finalize Agreement on Trans-Asian Railway

BANGKOK (United Nations Information Services) -- Countries in the Asia-Pacific region finalized a draft Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network today at UNESCAP headquarters in Bangkok. The Agreement was finalized at the conclusion of an Intergovernmental Meeting organized by UNESCAP from 28-30 November 2005.

The Agreement is the outcome of three days of constructive discussions among transport officials from across the region who agreed that it could play a catalytic role in the construction and upgrading of railway lines in Asia.

The Trans-Asian Railway Network constitutes a major step towards the identification of an integrated, international, intermodal network in the region. A similar agreement for the Asian Highway Network came into force in July 2005.

“Through the two agreements, UNESCAP wants to provide a solid basis for a regional approach to transport development, ushering in a new era of cooperation and creating a partnership for regional integration,” said UNESCAP Executive Secretary Kim Hak-Su.

The Agreement will be presented to the 62nd session of the UNESCAP Commission for adoption in April 2006. A signing ceremony will be held at the Ministerial Conference on Transport later that year.

Under the terms of the Agreement, a Working Group will be established and meet every two years. “It will be a forum within which transport policy makers and railway managers will define a common vision, adopt joint programmes of action, identify investment requirements and sources, and benchmark progress,” noted Mr. Kim.

The Trans-Asian railway network comprises of over 80,000 km of rail routes of international importance linking 27 UNESCAP member countries in the region. The aim of the network is to offer efficient transport services for the movement of goods within the UNESCAP region and between Asia and Europe as well as provide improved access for landlocked countries to its major ports.

The Trans-Asian Railway was initiated in the 1960s with the objective of providing a continuous 14,000-km rail link between Singapore and Istanbul, with possible onward connections to Europe and Africa. The link offered the potential to greatly shorten the distances and reduce transit times between countries and regions, while being a catalyst for the notion of international transport as a tool for trade expansion, economic growth and cultural exchanges.

The international events that punctuated the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s influenced the momentum of the concept during these three decades. However, with the political and economic changes that took place in the region in the 1980s and early 1990s, the development of the TAR concept received new support and momentum.

Given the extent of the territory covered, the differences in standards, and differences in the levels of technical development between railways in the region, UNESCAP adopted a step-by-step approach to define the TAR network. The network was initially divided into four major components which were studied separately. These components included:

(1) A northern corridor connecting the rail networks of China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the Russian Federation and the Korean Peninsula;

(2) A southern corridor connecting Thailand and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan with Turkey through Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, with Sri Lanka also part of the corridor;

(3) A subregional network covering the ASEAN and Indo-China subregions; and

(4) A north-south corridor linking Northern Europe to the Persian Gulf through the Russian Federation, Central Asia, the Caucasus region as well as across the Caspian Sea.

In close collaboration with concerned countries, UNESCAP’s Transport and Tourism Division has already started operationalizing the TAR network. Four demonstration runs of container block-trains have been successfully implemented along key segments of the TAR Northern Corridor between November 2003 and July 2004. Through these demonstration runs, the railways concerned have gained greater awareness of international trade patterns arising from globalization, and exercised new skills effectively to respond to the industry requirements for efficient transport and logistics services.

More information on the Trans-Asian Railway may be found on the UNESCAP website at: www.unescap.org/ttdw/index.asp?MenuName=TheTrans-AsianRailway

For further information on the
Trans-Asian Railway, please contact:
Barry Cable, Director
Transport and Tourism Division
Tel: +(66-2) 288-1371
Fax: +(66-2) 288-6042
Email: escap-ttd@un.org

For media inquiries, please contact:
David Lazarus, Chief
UN Information Services
Tel: +(66-2) 288-1866
Fax: +(6602) 288-1052
E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org

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